Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, northeastern Oklahoma, United States. It was a major national center of lead and zinc mining for more than 100 years in the heart of the Tri-State Mining District.

Oct 30, 2023 · Much of the downstream plant and animal life in Tar Creek were killed off as a result. The EPA became concerned about the acid water contaminating the area's groundwater and soil. Millions was poured into trying to clean up the Tar Creek site, including the town of Picher. But it wasn't enough.

Dec 18, 2023 · Contaminated water started leaking out, killing wildlife and even turning nearby creeks red from the presence of heavy metal. Picher was poisoning its remaining residents — but for years, they didn't even know. Before the dangers of Picher's chat piles were known to the town's citizens, the toxic mountains were simply part of daily life.

Nov 12, 2020 · In the mid-1990s, the EPA began removing six to 10 inches of topsoil from Picher residents’ yards in the hopes that it would reduce exposure to chat dust and contaminated water. Eventually, it became clear that meager measures such as these would not be enough and that the danger to public health was much more severe than previously believed.

Tar Creek Superfund site is a United States Superfund site, declared in 1983, located in the cities of Picher, Douthat and Cardin, Ottawa County, in northeastern Oklahoma. From 1900 to the 1960s lead mining and zinc mining companies left behind huge open chat piles that were heavily contaminated by these metals, cadmium, and others.

Jan 2, 2024 · Ghost towns can be fun, especially places like Rhyolite, Nevada, which was abandoned nearly a century ago and has become somewhat of a tourist attraction. But Picher’s story is far different. The town was founded in 1913 after workers drilling a hole accidentally discovered lead and zinc.

O. S. Picher provided the city's first deep water well, thereby providing the beginning of a municipal water system. The leasing system employed for mining dictated that an ore reduction mill be built on each forty-acre tract.

Sep 27, 2019 · Slowly chat piles began to form all across the flat Oklahoma country side, until they completely consumed the town of Picher. Mining eventually came to an end in 1967, as did the pumping of contaminated water out of the mines.

Mar 16, 2022 · The town’s drinking water turned toxic, causing unsuspecting residents to suffer chemical burns—mistakenly attributed to sunburns—and leaving children with orange hair that defied washing. Meanwhile, eroded soil from mining …

Oct 25, 2021 · Picher, Oklahoma, was once one of the world’s most prominent lead and zinc mining sites until the last of the mines shut down in 1970 (“The Creek Runs Red” 2007). However, after years of mining, waste accumulated and began to pollute the nearby land and rivers.